Brittney Saks to manage tax and wealth management professionals as Leader of PwC US Personal Financial Services
PwC US today announced that Brittney Saks, a partner in the Personal Financial Services practice based in Chicago, has been appointed leader of U.S. Personal Financial Services, succeeding Richard Kohan upon Kohan’s January 1st retirement from the Firm.
“Brittney brings outstanding technical skills, a passion for relationship building and a dedication to client service to her new role,” said Mark J. Mendola, PwC’s US Tax leader and a vice chairman of the firm. “With her experience serving the complex financial requirements of high net worth families, she is uniquely positioned to drive additional growth for Personal Financial Services, an area that we believe holds immense potential for our clients and the Firm. As we continue to invest in our PFS offering, Brittney’s work with global PFS clients will help power the ongoing success of this critical service for our clients.”
Richard Stovsky, PwC’s US Private Company Services leader, added, “We appreciate Richard Kohan’s more than 20 years of service with PwC and the Private Company Services practice, and look forward to working with Brittney in this role as we continue to position the group as the premiere provider of personal financial services for high net worth families and individuals.”
In her new role, Ms. Saks leads a group of experienced tax and wealth management professionals, specializing in designing strategies to effectively preserve and enhance their clients’ wealth and help them build value, manage risk and improve performance.
“The tax and wealth management landscape for high net worth individuals and families has become increasingly complex with changing regulations and continued economic and legislative uncertainty. Now, more than ever, bringing all of the aspects of wealth management together – succession planning, compliance, international investment – in a holistic approach that aligns personal and business goals, is crucial,” said Ms. Saks. “The PFS team’s extensive experience navigating the changing circumstances that impact our clients’ wealth enables us to develop customized strategies to help them build and preserve their wealth through generations.”
Ms. Saks has 20 years of experience providing comprehensive planning services, including compensation, investment, business succession, charitable giving, and retirement planning strategies, to business owners, corporate executives and wealthy families both domestically and globally. She has served as the lead engagement partner on some of the largest and most complex family office clients in Chicago. Over the course of her career, Ms. Saks has distinguished herself with extensive experience in private equity, corporate financial counseling programs income tax, trust and estate tax consulting and compliance services.
Additionally, Ms. Saks has led the production of the annual guide to tax and wealth management, Managing Your Wealth, for the past five years and has authored numerous other publications on high net worth family planning. Ms. Saks is also regularly quoted in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune and many other publications. She is a member of the diversity council for both the Tax and Private Company Services practices and is involved in PwC’s women’s networking teams. Ms. Saks’ leadership extends to the community through her involvement with the United Way and the Women’s Leadership Board.
A certified public accountant and personal financial specialist, Ms. Saks has a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a Masters in Taxation from DePaul University, and is a member of the AICPA in the Tax and Personal Financial Planning Division and the Illinois CPA Society.
Ms. Saks joined PwC in 1993, serving in the Tax practice in San Francisco. She has been dedicated to the Personal Financial Services group since 1996 and became a partner in 2004.
The Personal Financial Services group is a component of PwC’s Private Company Services practice, which works with over 60 percent of companies on the Forbes list of America’s Largest Private Companies. The Private Company Services practice’s 1,800 professionals understand the strategy and business objectives of private companies, their owners and other high net worth individuals, working together to add value while reducing risk. The PCS team is provided with cross-training to enable them to connect the dots across a number of private company issues such as compliance, controls, access to cash flow, expansion, exit strategies, succession, wealth management and the many areas that can help build or diminish long-term success and value.